Britain facing 7 YEARS of austerity as George Osborne pinches £1.2bn from women and children

CHANCELLOR George Osborne yesterday snatched £1.2billion from women and children as he condemned Britain to seven years of misery.

CHANCELLOR George Osborne yesterday snatched £1.2billion from women and children as he condemned Britain to seven years of misery.

He announced plans to slash family tax credits - putting 100,000 children at risk of being plunged into poverty.

Osborne admitted that growth had stalled, unemployment was soaring and borrowing was set to be £158billion higher than a year ago.

He warned that the economic situation is so bad that Britain is at severe risk of another recession.

And, as a result, we now face seven years of austerity, with the cuts reaching £15billion a year by 2016.

With his economic plans in shreds, the Chancellor punished the poorest families by slashing £975million off child tax credits and £265million off working tax credits. The moves will leave more than two million families up to £320 a year worse off.

By contrast, the banks were let off with a 0.01 per cent tax hike on their loans in the UK.

"He is taking £1billion more from child tax credit alone, more than three times as much as from the banks."

And Citizens Advice chief executive Gillian Guy added: "Make no mistake, this means children in the poorest homes are at risk of going cold and hungry to pay for the new schemes the Chancellor has announced."

In his autumn statement, the Chancellor also announced a savage jobs cull in the public sector and a cap on pay rises from 2013 at one per cent.

Osborne, who in March bragged that Britain was out of the danger zone, admitted he would not now be able to pay off the country's deficit until 2016-17 - two years later than he had claimed.

The Chancellor was left with nowhere to hide as he was forced to tell MPs the bleak economic news, which included:

Government borrowing is set to spiral by £158billion over 12 months, smashing his ambition of balancing the books by 2015.

Growth forecasts have been slashed to 0.9 per cent this year, down from 1.7 per cent forecast in March.

Unemployment will rise to nearly nine per cent next year, adding £3.5billion to the benefits bill.

Millions will have to work longer as the state pension age will rise to 67 in 2026, 10 years earlier than planned.

Osborne warned that the economic situation could get far worse if the eurozone crisis deepened.

He told MPs: "If the rest of Europe heads into recession, it may prove hard to prevent one in the UK."

Robert Chote, director of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, said: "The chances of a much worse outcome are greater than the chances of a much better one."

He said households were now suffering from a 2.3 per cent drop in disposable income - a post-War record.

Osborne did make a few handouts, however. The raid on families will be used to fund £5billion investment in building projects, while a £30billion fund is to be set up to lend to small firms.

Motorists will be spared a planned 3p hike in fuel duty planned for January but they still face a 3p rise in August.

Rail travellers will benefit from a smaller than expected rise in fares.

Pensioners will get a £5.30 increase in the basic state pension to £107.45 in April.

Benefit payments will also rise in line with the inflation rate of 5.2 per cent, while the number of free childcare places for deprived two-year-olds will be doubled to 260,000.

Public sector pay rises will be capped at one per cent for two years after the end of current freeze next year. Forecasts for total public sector job losses go up from 400,000 to 710,000. A review will be held into regional pay adjustments.

Rise in state pension age to 67 to be brought forward to 2026 from 2034.

Benefit payments will rise by 5.2 per cent next year.

Basic state pension and pension credit will both rise by £5.35 for one million Scottish pensioners. Below-inflation increase in some tax credits.

A £110 rise in the child element of child tax credits is to be scrapped.

A £1billion "youth contract" will be put in place to subsidise six-month work placements for 410,000 young people in UK.

A credit easing programme will underwrite up to £40billion in low-interest loans to small and medium-sized firms.

Bank levy to be increased in January.

A £1billion business finance partnership will help raise money for medium-sized firms.

The Scottish government will get an extra £433million to invest in capital projects. Investment in telecoms, including broadband, will improve coverage in rural areas.

Edinburgh will become one of 10 UK super-connected cities. The rail network will get £1billion, with a £50million offer to improve Caledonian Sleepers.

Aim to unlock £20billion in investment from pension funds.

A 3p fuel duty rise that had been planned for January is to be scrapped after massive cross-party support. The planned rise in duty of 5p next August has been reduced to 3p.